Update 22:54 UTC: 3 miners got killed and 12 where injured when the mine “4 horas” collapsed at the time of the earthquake.

Update 20:01 UTC:
- The Panamericana road has been blocked by two landslides.
- 3 landslides have been reported in the road Pausa-Oyolo in Ayacucho.
- A landslide also happened in the kilometer 700 in Atico, Caraveli province.
- A tunnel has also been blocked by another landslide in Ocana, Camana province.
- The elementary school of Acari number 40262 has been damaged.
- Other schools have been damaged in Acari.
- A school collapsed in Palca, Lucanas province.
- A number of houses have been declared as uninhabitable in the same city of Palca.

Update 18:23 UTC : At least 6 people were injured in a house collapse in Paucar del Sara Sara in Ayacucho.

Update 18:14 UTC : Collapsed houses are reported from Acari and Caraveli area. More houses are damaged,
schools were evacuated. Several landslides occurred, blocking and damaging roads. Also the Panamericana is affected.

Update 17:39 UTC : Contrary to what we expected initially, the earthquake is more powerful than expected. Local press is reporting a number of
collapsed houses in Arequipa, esspecially in Acari region. Landslides are also reported. The services of the Civil Defense have already strated
assessing the situation.

Update 17:33 UTC : Due to the increased Magnitude, the maximum MMI has also been increased to MMI VII = very strong shaking for the coastal part.Still
no reason for us to expect major damage also because this part of the country has regular very strong subduction earthquakes.

Authorities in Peru rushed to rescue miners reportedly trapped in copper pits on Wednesday after an earthquake shook the coast - causing
landslides, injuries and possibly deaths in rural provinces, local officials said.

Officials in the southern Arequipa region said they were told that people died after collapses in make-shift copper mines, which operate largely
outside of the law. A magnitude 7 quake, capable of widespread, heavy damage, struck near Peru's southern coast a few minutes before midday on
Wednesday.

I am just seeing 1 7.0 quake today at 10:42 UTC. Are you saying another has happened? It is not showing up on the map for me yet. Or is this damage
from the one earlier that initially reported no damage?

No don't be sorry. I actually have felt confussion over this quake all day long. I felt my house sway today (saw it too) and actually got up to move
to a safe spot yet the two people I asked didnt feel a thing (at their respective locations). I know what I felt but have no idea why (nowhere near
Peru by the way). I think I've been sort of "off" since this experience. No neurological problems I'm aware of so who knows. Just have been
searching for an explanation all day.

There have been an awful lot of big quakes lately. The average for 5-5.9 I believe is like 3 a day but we had 10 just a couple of days ago. Then
Pakistan, Russia, and now this. It seems like a lot of strong movement in a short about if time. I always like reading your threads by the way.

No don't be sorry. I actually have felt confussion over this quake all day long. I felt my house sway today (saw it too) and actually got up to move
to a safe spot yet the two people I asked didnt feel a thing (at their respective locations). I know what I felt but have no idea why (nowhere near
Peru by the way). I think I've been sort of "off" since this experience. No neurological problems I'm aware of so who knows. Just have been
searching for an explanation all day.

There have been an awful lot of big quakes lately. The average for 5-5.9 I believe is like 3 a day but we had 10 just a couple of days ago. Then
Pakistan, Russia, and now this. It seems like a lot of strong movement in a short about if time. I always like reading your threads by the way.

Worth noting in passing that this earthquake is reported to have a depth of 40km (25mi) or 50km depending on different sources.
So, unlike the Pakistan quake a few days ago that had a depth of zero, the effects of this one on the surface wont be so bad.

Nor, should I add, is it coming up anywhere near as large on my seismometer compared to the pakistan quake.

....and only one area of the whole Pacific rim that doesn't have overlapping separate quakes almost too numerous to make out.

....I hope it's not the point in the plate system building pressure.

Excellent visual link. I can better see that this place is the west coast of the US. And when I looked at a visual earlier (for the last 24 hours
only), it looks as if the area from Washington to Wyoming is going to just bust apart (below). I cant get a 7 day uploaded on the little device I'm
using but we all know what's been going on in just this area. Add to that all of the eastern California quakes and the picture is unprecidented IMO.

Thank you for your link. It is truly alarming. I wouldn't have seen the empty spot as easily without it.

Yes California is getting hit hard with lots of little ones. In aug 2012 I remember almost panicking at the number of quakes (hundreds) in LA. I was
in Northern California but I remember seeing this huge swarm. I'm not sure that has been explained to this day. I believe it is connected to what's
happening now though. A prewarning maybe (they all are but last August especially). What the heck is going on? No solar activity and lots of quakes.
Hmmm.

I will eat some fruit.

Never have been a big fruit person but maybe I need some to offset the late nights on ATS. My feeling something is
probably better explained by something other than a jolt of the earth. My house is very old so maybe just settled or...I had a health related anomaly,
which I'll be paying attention to if it happens again. Thank you.

I'm wondering if anyone here knows about where we are with number of quakes this year so far. I can't find any data on a cumulative total for 2013
but know they used to keep a running account - month by month. No longer can find. From what I am finding though....they have about doubled.

Worldwide - between 2010 - 2012 the highest number in a year was in 2008 with 32,000 (rounded up)
That is about 616 per week.

This week we have had 1,436 earthquakes worldwide (so far). If I try to download 7 days/all quakes on my ipad it has almost always had over a
thousand. I don't try to do this often but when I do the numbers have been high.

It's interesting that 2008 was the last highest year of quakes (I believe 2013 will top it). I say that because in 2008 intense swarms began to
rumble yellowstone and the same things were being said then that have been said the last couple of weeks. Robert Smith (univ of Utah) thought they
were peculiar/puzzling - worth a closer look in 2008. He just made a smiliar statement about how the recent distinct swarms are odd - worth a better
look. Two years later - in 2010 we saw a bigger swarm at yellowstone. There were also almost no sunspots in 2008. We just heard - there are almost no
sunspots in 2013.

This year has a lot in common with 2008. I have more thoughts on this but wanted to see if anyone else would like to add, substantiate, or eliminate
some of these connections.

This content community relies on user-generated content from our member contributors. The opinions of our members are not those of site ownership who maintains strict editorial agnosticism and simply provides a collaborative venue for free expression.